The majority of music lovers became acquainted with Mark Ronson through his DJ/club gigs and/or his production on the successful albums of modern day divas like Amy Winehouse, Christina Aguilera and Lily Allen. However, I became aware of him through Stuart Zender, who plays bass in Ronson's band. After seeing them along with Lily Allen at the London Lovebox festival in 2006, I was anticipating the release of Version, which is Ronson's vision of using a plethora of musicians to do an album full of covers. I really had no idea what to expect.

Immediately, I recognized a funky, slow, sensual sounding "Toxic." Yes - Britney's. The song features Tiggas, a soul singer with a rough/rock voice and the late Old Dirty Bastard, who kicks a quick freestyle that embodies his humorous nature. I then move on to "Apply Some Pressure," which has the lead singer from the originators of the song ( Maximo Park), Paul Smith. I listened carefully to the instrumentation and how the horns and percussion complimented the attitude in the vocals to keep the 80's new wave feel. Next, I find myself pausing on the Smith's "Stop Me," which features Australian singer, Daniel Merriweather. It starts off a bit slow before an addictive and dance- worthy beat picks up behind Merriweather's smooth Timberlake-like voice. This song has extreme remix potential.

Moving on to what became one of the standouts, the Kaiser Chief's "Oh My God," sung by Lily Allen. The groove that Ronson laced on it is felt from the start with the jazzy snaps and the sneak up of the brass. The repetitive chorus is carefree and the entire song flows well. Another noteworthy mention goes to "Valerie," a Zuton's song that Amy Winehouse tackles. The beat is eerily familiar to a remix Ronson did on Allen's album ("Smile") which threw me for a second. What makes this song work is the music fits Winehouse's sound. It has that 60's/70's vibe that provides a nice backdrop for the riffs and octave changes. It gives the song energy and makes it fun.

The Ryan Adam's acoustic track, "Amy" was a surprise for me. I had never heard of Kenna, but grew to like his mellow tone in this track. There is a transition from the verse to the chorus that is sounds quite sweet.

The last one I want to mention is "Pretty Green," originally done by The Jams. Again, Ronson dips back into the music vault to pull out dancehall with hint of bubble gum rebellious rock sung by Santo Gold. It does that spelling thing in the middle which I think is a bad trend in music (thanks Gwen Stefani), but it doesn't last long so it is not that annoying. "Pretty Green" also strikes me as a mainstream/commercial hit.

If you are used to the original tracks, Version may take strike you as odd at first, but just try it. Ronson does an excellent job of remaking the songs in different styles to reach a new platform of listeners that may have otherwise never given them a chance. Instead of putting in a different CD to hear another vibe, you can just skip to the next track. The album can't really be boxed in one specific genre, and that is what makes it listener friendly.


Deesha Dyer is a contributing writer for Giant Step. For more information about Deesha and her work, please point your browser to the links below.

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